If you create a newsletter for your church each week, you are not alone. Providing updates on upcoming events, prayer requests and other church information can be beneficial to those attending your services, but in the digital world of ministry it may be time to take this a step further. Let’s go over how to create a virtual newsletter for better visibility and interaction.
Repurpose Your Content 
We live in a busy world where information is available immediately. Your church has information that needs to be shared, and you have probably created updates that are similar to others in the past. Save this content and change it a little, as needed, to save time and effort. If your Mother’s Day Out program has the same general information, then it will be easy to reuse this again for the next outing. Repurposing content also gives you a chance to stay consistent in how you present your message. Sending email newsletters will allow you to work off of the same template that you have used previously, which sends the same branded look to your church’s members.
Update Your Lists
One of the best benefits of having digital resources for your ministry is being able to connect with your church’s members easily and more frequently. Have you ever gotten an email and wondered, “Where in the world did this come from?” Don’t be that church that sends out a random email to an outdated list every now and then. If you are using a church management system, storing emails and contact information of different groups at your church makes sending the right email to a specific group much easier. Sending your newsletter to your total list is a good start, but you can also tailor your emails to different groups. Always think of your email recipients before you send, and create a new visitor group that you update regularly. It’s an easy way to stay connected, and there are some great email services out there that can even integrate with your church management system.
Provide More Opportunity for Interaction
Does your church have a social media presence? This is a fun way to cross-promote your marketing efforts by posting your e-newsletter on Facebook or Twitter, and also having social buttons included in your emails. If you are communicating about an upcoming event through your email, make sure your social networks mimic the same content. Your subscribers may click on a social button to find more information on an event, and having a fun video or conversation already on a social media page can help encourage them to attend. This doesn’t have to be a complicated process. Simply write about or post what you would want to know if you were a visitor or someone attending your church. Cover the basics, and invite them to participate in a conversation!
Creating a virtual newsletter can help you reach the more tech-savvy members of your church, and it gives them a chance to read updates when it is convenient. Making sure you are sending the right message to the right people is easy with a ChMS as well. We hope this helps you come up with even better ways to communicate, and that you enjoy sending out a virtual newsletter.
